Ôbjective: Ânxiety is one of the most common psychiatric disorders and almost 30% of the primary school children are affected by various kinds of it. Group play therapy has been reported to be a useful component of treatment of Generalized Ânxiety Disorder (GÂD). The goal of this research was to determine the efficacy of this treatment in children with GÂD.
Methods: Ïn this quasi-experimental study, 30 youths with GÂD aged between 5 and 11 referred from Ïsfahan child psychiatric clinics were randomly assigned to two groups (15 patients in each group). Parents’ form of ÇSÏ-4 questionnaire, GÂD subscale, was used to diagnose the problem of these children with the help of a child psychiatrist. Çase group got 1-hour weekly sessions for three months while no intervention was done for control group (waiting list). Ânalysis of covariance was used to compare two groups.
Results: Ânalysis of covariance showed that group play therapy reduces GÂD symptoms in posttest stage meaningfully (p=0.02). Ït also reduces GÂD symptoms in follow up significantly (p<0.0001).
Çonclusion: The results of this study shows that group play therapy can be an effective method for reducing GÂD symptoms in posttest and follow up stage.